The investment by PremjiInvest is part of the new round of funding by the Delhi-based startup in a transaction pegged at Rs 200 crore, or $30 million, which also involves sale of shares by early investors in the company, these people told on condition of anonymity, as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
The transaction is set to value Lenskart at about Rs 2,000 crore, and comes three months after it mopped up Rs 400 crore, at a valuation of Rs 1,600-1,700 crore, in a round led by International Finance Corp, the private sector investment arm of the World Bank.
Venture capital firm IDG Ventures India is making a partial exit with this deal, with ‘multi-bagger returns’, one of the people cited above said.
“The round is largely secondary in composition, with a third of it coming as a primary infusion into the company“, this person said.
Avendus Capital is said to be advising Lenskart on the transaction. IDG Ventures India was the first institutional investor in Lenskart in 2011, when it led a $4-million round.
Since then it has invested across all its four rounds from its different funds. It could not be immediately ascertained if any of Lenskart’s existing investors, which includes private equity major TPG Growth and Zurich-based asset management company Adveq, are also participating in the latest round. Interestingly, in a climate where entrepreneurs are courting investors, Lenskart transaction is being driven by inbound interest.
“People want to put more money in the company, and they (PremjiInvest) come with a big cheque book. Right now is the best time is to play contrary“, said another person mentioned above.
The back-to-back rounds of funding will make Lenskart one of the most well funded online retailers this year with close to Rs 600 crore raised. The round will give another strong financial backer to the company, as it aggressively builds out an omni-channel play and takes on Titan, which is also eyeing an online retail play for its eyewear business.
Lenskart currently has annualised revenue run rate of over Rs 300 crore now, with a target of reaching Rs 2,500 crore in the next four years. It expects offline channels to contribute to 50% of the revenues in the next two years.
Source: The Economic Times